Record number of people join mass massage event

Many people flocked to a mass massage event to hit a new world record.

Thailand set a new Guinness World Record for a mass massages during a health exhibition this week.

Department of Health Service Support director general Somchai Pinyopornpanich said that the world's largest mass massage event, organized by the Ministry of Public Health, totaled 641 pairs. The masseuses performed 19 postures on beneficiaries for 12 minutes straight.

The previous record was set on March 30, 2012, in Australia, where 263 people were massaged simultaneously for five minutes.
Somchai said that all 641 masseuses had been certified by the Ministry of Health, and the session was observed by Guinness World Record officials.

"The massage session today will spread word of the Thai massage worldwide," he said.

Prime Minister Shinawatra Yingluck opened the show and announced that the government has embarked on a five-year strategy to establish Thailand, as the center of the world of medicine.

"This strategy will boost tourism, create jobs and strengthen the economy," said Yingluck. "We'll have to start with the development of our human resources in specific sectors and the use of local resources of traditional Thai medicine," Yingluck said.

Yingluck said that Thailand has the most internationally certified hospitals in Asia, and has 33 world class spas.

Yingluck also said that 2.5 million foreigners received medical treatment in Thailand this year and generated more than 121 billion baht in revenue. This is expected to increase to at least 800 billion baht over the next five years, Yingluck added.